Born to die
by bayouvista
Summary: While on route to meet Polly, Pete and Larry for a weekend at a popular Canadian mountain resort, cheerful slacker Piper Chapman is forced to take a slight detour down a road her GPS doesn't think exists…
1. Chapter 1

All right, folks, this is going to be a longer story than you've seen from me up to now. I hope you enjoy it, as this particular trope isn't the most popular in this fandom but I love writing it so the joke's on all of us. Full disclosure: the picture belongs to m01229 on Flikr, not to me. I've never actually been to Canada yet... (but I do love its wintry landscapes to the extent that this is actually the third Vauseman story set in Canada I've written so far. The other ones have just been harder to polish to the point of posting).

* * *

**Monday, November 4**

Halfway on his way up to Lake Louise on a clear November morning, local Jack of all trades Joel Luscheck found a pretty spot for a panoramic piss. He crossed the road, away from the cold blue shadows of the sloping woods on his right. When he was a kid, a rogue squirrel had jumped off a dead evergreen and bit him right on the balls, likely having taken them for over ripe acorns; he'd been keeping his leaks away from tree trunks ever since. Humming under his breath, he basked in the unusually balmy sunshine and aimed at the frozen over bed of the Kootenay River. The sun bounced off playfully against the sparkling white blanket of heavy wet snow that covered everything along the valley, all the way to the mist enveloped peaks in the distance.

Everything except for the bloody clothing scattered on the gentle incline leading to the river.

"Fuck," Luscheck mumbled as the doobie dropped from between his lips.

* * *

Captain Healy poked the frozen light blue jacket with a dry evergreen branch. No doubt about it, the thin jacket was soaked in dark blood. A few yards away was a pair of black jeans – too tight looking, in Healy's estimation, to normally accommodate the body of an adult.

"It's the fashion, Captain. I can assure you we're talking adult female here," Sgt Bayley said, kneeling next to the jeans and the one dirty blue suede boot (left foot) they had found. Healy wrinkled his nose in distaste.

The sorry ass rental had been parked – if you wanted to call it that – headed north into a frozen snow bank. The passenger door had been hanging open, god knew how that numskull Luscheck hadn't taken it clean out when he'd sped off from the crime scene. More surprisingly, nothing was taken. The young woman's mobile phone, passport, driver's license, credit cards and $264.91 in cash, along with 23 Canadian cents were all scattered across the driver's seat.

According to her brother, the two had parted ways in Cranbrook. He was going to drive all the way to Calgary and drop her stuff over at her friend Polly's, then stay with _his_ friends as planned. She was going to meet her friends Polly, Pete and Larry in Lake Louise for the weekend and then return with them to Calgary on Monday, right on time for school (Polly's).

"When was the last time you spoke to your sister, Mr Chapman?" Healy asked the weed-infused hippie in front of him. The young man appeared stricken, bewildered and quite a bit tearful. Healy wanted to puke and ask him to man up.

"When we stopped for lunch in Cranbrook," Cal sniffled. His eyes were riveted to the animal tracks that followed the trail of red blotches all the way to the river. His sniffles intensified.

"Thursday," Healy repeated, thoughtfully. The strong odor of ganja had given him a massive headache. "You mean before the snowstorm."

**Thursday, 31 October**

Piper was just an hour and a half out of Cranbrook when the large frame of an askew 18 wheeler came into view up ahead. She slowed down, trying to avoid the orange cones and the reflective signs dutifully arranged across the road. The transport looked like a dinosaur surprised by a fluke earthquake: ungracefully slumped to the side and leaking dark sticky liquid into the Kootenay River. She couldn't help herself snap a picture as springboard for future snarky commentary: _The Canadian Affair, Part 1: The Dark Side of Wilderness._

A very young cop trotted over to her car.

"We're sorry, Miss, but you're gonna have to take the diversion," he said rather pleasantly, pointing to a partially obscured sign that said _Black Lake_.

"What happened, Officer?"

"We got this 18 wheeler spilled toxic material all over the interstate. It's gonna take a while until we get it all cleaned. Sorry for the inconvenience, Miss."

The pungent, alarming stench had alerted Piper that something was amiss with the idyllic picture even before the cones. As a lifelong city dweller, though, she hadn't been sure whether or not to immediately feel worried.

"So what do I do? Just take the right?" she shot an unconvinced glance at the overgrown sign and the evergreens densely covering the steep incline to her right. "How do I know when to get back on the interstate?" she asked as she was fiddling with her GPS. On the map, the road the cop was pointing at looked more like someone's driveway, no name or anything, winding up a bit then simply finishing in the middle of nowhere.

"It's a loop road, Miss. Just follow it and it's gonna take you right back to the interstate," he smiled.

"But why can't I see it on my GPS?" Piper insisted.

The cop shrugged.

"Your app has probably not been updated. It's not a heavily used road."

That turned out to be a massive understatement. The road, having started decent enough as two paved lanes, morphed into something curious, between old cracked asphalt and logging road within about 15 minutes. Treads of heavy logging machinery had bitten into its surface and dark soil mixed with evergreen mulch was well on its way to reclaiming what had once belonged to it.

Piper was still too early into her journey not to find the "experience" fascinatingly rugged. As she navigated the difficult drive for a car specifically designed for the city, she imagined herself an early outback hero, on her way to conquering the thus far unreachable depths of the Canadian Rockies. _As it were_, she grinned at herself, when, after a sudden bump on the road, she met her own amused baby blues in the rear view mirror.

"Where are you now?" Polly's chipper voice came through the speaker.

"Just out of Radium Hot Springs. I had to take a detour because of this massive toxic material spillage on the Kootenay Highway," Piper said just as the car bounced painfully to the right, having met with another stealthy obstacle. She winced, hoping she'd get the car back to Cranbrook in one piece.

"That's fucked up."

"I know. It was disgusting. I could smell it like miles away, made my eyes water. Upturned 18 wheeler."

"Good thing you weren't stuck behind it."

"I know, can you imagine?"

"So how long's that detour?"

"Not sure. Another half hour?"

Piper considered telling Polly the weird fact about the road not really showing up on the map, make it sound like an odd joke, like it was nothing at all – _well, it wasn't, was it?_ – but she decided against it, thinking it wasn't worth giving Polly the willies over nothing. The woman was apt to convince her to turn and drive right back to Spokane.

"All right. I'm gonna go get some stuff for the weekend with Pete. Call me when you're here, yea?"

The music returned to Piper's speakers. It was kinda pretty how the early sunset dusted the tops of the trees with gold, though at road level the shadows had started to take on a deeper blue hue. She enjoyed the unusual – for her – solitary driving and was starting to get a little better at anticipating half hidden roots and larger rocks, though the car was still dancing under her every time she caught a particularly deep rut.

The road smoothed some as she picked a bit of altitude and her biggest concerns now were occasional but rather sharp curves, which Piper wisely decided to negotiate at very slow speed. Lana del Rey's _Born to Die_ came on and she turned it up, joining in at the chorus. _I mean,_ she thought grinning, _Larry and I aren't quite the epitome of YOLO but sometimes a weekend away with Mother Nature is all it takes…_

* * *

She ventured into the convenience store, dying for a drink and a snack. This one – most likely her only option on the loop road – was a square-shape corrugated shack, lit up like a Christmas tree even before sundown. A young – _is she old enough to work?_ – white girl with cornrows sat on a tall stool behind the counter, her eyes riveted to her phone, one foot tapping a brisk rhythm. As Piper was browsing the underwhelming offer, trying to decide between the revolting yet attention-focusing Red Bull and the gentler – but equally as dubiously removed from "natural" – ready-made convenience store coffee, the bell rang.

"All right, Captain Healy?" the girl asked, without lifting her eyes. Piper found that a bit odd, but perhaps they were all so acquainted with one other around here, they knew each other by the way they opened doors.

"Hello, Tricia," the not-exactly-in-shape graying man referred to as Captain Healy answered. "Watch the store, you've got a customer."

"I know. She's just deciding on her drink," Tricia answered when Piper reached the counter. She felt a bit irked that people were talking about her like she wasn't there. Not the most welcoming bunch, perhaps?

"There's a snow storm on the way," Captain Healy addressed Piper in a fatherly voice. Everything about him gave off a very old fashioned "father knows best" attitude. Piper could easily imagine him insisting his children be home schooled and not indulge in anything that could remotely pass as fun, for their own good, of course. He probably folded his underwear – tighty-whities, for sure. Piper shuddered a little.

"I know," she smiled when it was obvious he was waiting for an answer, judging by the eager expression on his face. Piper felt uneasy. _Why is he talking to me? _She turned to Tricia, who looked very relaxed behind the counter. Piper breathed a sigh of relief and continued, addressing the cashier. "I heard it on the news. But it's not going to hit here for another couple of hours by which time I'll be back on the interstate."

As she extended her arm to pick up a pack of weed, she missed the curious look exchanged by Healy and Tricia. She'd just remembered you could buy it legally in Canada even if you were under 21 and thought it would be funny to sample the goods before Polly showed her all the other reasons why Canada was a better place to live.

"That thing's gonna kill ya," Healy went on, depositing a packet of burger meat on the counter.

"Weed? I doubt it," Piper smiled, a little less friendly this time. _Can't he just shut the fuck up with his daddy banter?_

"Well, it's still not good for you. You don't know what else is inside."

"This is the whole point of government approved weed, Captain Healy: you know exactly what's inside," the girl behind the counter laughed. Piper joined her, happy for some levity.

"Anyway, thanks for the heads up," Piper felt the need to be polite, even though all she really wanted was to put distance between her and the older man.

Below the last vestiges of the deep orange and purple twilight slashing across the sky, the road had plunged into deep blue shadows. She wondered how long she had been in the store; it barely felt like minutes. The temperature, though, had dropped, as she could clearly feel in her extremities. Perhaps the suede boots had been a mistake…

She let out a slow expletive when she had to squeeze in between her driver's door and the cop car. _Shouldn't the fucking police know better than to park so close to another vehicle? Especially when there's all the space in the world_. The only other vehicle in the store's parking lot was the small snow plow neatly backed in between the air pump and the recycling bin. Irritated, she yanked the door open… and managed to graze Captain Healy's spotlessly clean steel grey cop vehicle. _Shit._ She looked surreptitiously around to see if anyone had seen anything but she appeared alone. The cop was still inside, talking to Tricia.

A milky full moon shaped like a lumpy piece of mozzarella peeked from behind the tops of the evergreens as she quickly pulled out onto the road. _At least it's not gonna be so dark out there,_ she thought, trying to cheer herself up.

The first flurries started to dot her windshield about 30 minutes later. They picked up slowly, gently, sticky like candy floss. It occurred to her that she should've rejoined the interstate already. The GPS was still showing the car float eerily in "no man's land", the little blue cursor simply changing direction in space.

"Well," her voice rang hollow inside the somewhat wheezing car, "as long as I'm moving, that means there's a road." She had meant to add a chuckle, but it died on her lips. With a shiver, she switched the radio back on.

"… inches of snow but y'all know that on nights like this you should all be snug at home with a cup of something hot –"

"And someone hot under the covers with you, ain't it so, Chip?"

"Well, I wasn't gonna get quite as detailed in my description, Chad," Chip chuckled in that squeaky door way very young man sometimes do. A lower voice – Chad, obviously – joined him in strangely perfect harmony.

"Anyway," Chad continued, "we're expecting enough snow to keep the plows busy for the next 36 hours, so I guess the kiddies out there are gonna enjoy a couple of unexpected snow days –"

"Unexpected," Chip's squeaky door returned, "like how unexpected is snow in the Rockies, Chad?"

"Hey, geniuses," a third, somewhat whiny, voice joined in the banter, "you know we're heading into the weekend, right? So the kids are getting zilch."

Piper laughed right along with a wah-wah-waaaah sound effect.

"Don't be a smart-ass, Chuck," Chad's voice returned, a pleasant baritone to Piper's ears, "the kids are at least getting Friday off."

She was glad for the chatter – it took her mind off the monotonously winding road. In an effort to squeeze the last drops of entertainment out of the tame banter, Piper pulled over to the side of the round and rolled a spliff. She wasn't particularly good at it, so it came out a bit uneven and the papers stuck badly to each other but it lit up and did its job. To an extent, Piper soon found out. The Canadian government seemed to think the drier meant the healthier when it came to weed.

She was on her third roll-up and her edge had eased a bit when she first noticed the fuel gauge needle tipping low-ish. That was kinda odd, normally rentals came with full tanks. She kept driving, hoping for a gas station, finding it was too much of a hassle to turn back to the convenience store if she wanted to make it to Lake Louise in time for dinner.

The snow was now coming down in large, fluffy chunks that easily stuck to the rest of the car, not just to the windshield. Which didn't help, considering this rental, the cheapest they could find, had rather slow moving wipers. Then again, there was nothing ahead but more curves – a tad sharper now – and nothing to the steeply sloping left, beside snow covered evergreens – were they leaning in closer now or was it just the super dry Canadian weed? – and nothing on the right, but more twilight muddled pines and fir trees descending into the ravine. Nothing behind, bes… wait, there _was_ something behind. Her eyes lazily glanced in the rear view mirror and she saw them: the lights of a car.

This new development left her disconcerted. She'd been alone on the road pretty much since she'd split up with Cal. She wasn't sure how to catalog a newcomer, or if it even needed cataloging to begin with. Should she slow down and let whoever it was move past her or speed up in hope she never had to find out who it was? Was the weed bending her thoughts paranoid? It had never happened to her before, but, then again, she'd never had government sanctioned product either… What she did was turn up the radio instead. The hosts were discussing hockey results now. She enjoyed the distraction, letting the incomprehensible talk wash right over her. She considered lighting up another roll-up but decided against it. Sharp-ish decision making was the safe option, especially as the snow had started to pile on top of the road surface.

But just as she eased off another curve, with just a smidgen of a skid, she noticed the car had approached. On reflex, she accelerated slightly and the vehicle fell back into the heavy twilight. For a good 10 to 15 minutes, there was nothing beyond the scope of her back lights. She even managed to follow a bit of the sports talk when it occurred to her than perhaps another spliff was the right answer given current conditions.

She once again pulled to the side and rummaged a bit through her weed pouch, trying to select the greener bits. The coast was still clear when she lifted her eyes to check her mirror. This new roll-up proved more promising so she eased into what she'd gauged was the rental's cruising speed when climbing. With a chuckle she realized she was thinking absolute non-sense.

"That means both that this batch is more decent and that I'm not overdoing it," Piper spoke out loud to her image in the mirror, when the car lights behind her reappeared. Piper took a look at the roll-up and angrily stubbed it onto the side of the steering wheel. "Fuckin' government…"

She sped up, adrenaline surging within her every time the tires slid as she took a curve on the progressively icier road, spraying powdery snow in their wake. The car behind had kept up. In fact, it had approached enough for her to feel a sense of familiarity. Eyes glued to the rear view mirror, she could only make out one person inside. Within a few stomach churning moments, the driver sped up and came level with her. He edged her towards the ravine so slightly she wasn't even sure it had happened. She felt so unnerved, her hands were slipping with sweat on the steering wheel. She shot a look sideways and she could see it was Captain Healy.

Goose bumps covered her back and arms. Without thinking, she slammed on the brakes, which sent the rental spinning like a dreidl. With a heavy thud, it banged right into Healy's steel grey cop car. Piper hit her head against the soft roof and for a few interminable moments she was unsure if up was down or left was right. By the time she'd regained control – blanched face, white knuckles and a flurry of half coherent expletives – Healy had gunned his car away from her. But he didn't stay there for long. Just as they were approaching another curve, he came level with her again. Except now she'd wisely taken the inside of the road. He had the gall to smile fatherly at her and to even nod, slowing down just enough to align himself unnervingly close behind.

"What the fucking fuck?!" Piper asked aloud, her voice cracking in frustration and abject fear. Tears started to stream down her face, mixing with the Red Bull that had spilled all over the console and her jeans, and had somehow managed to also spray her right cheek. She angrily wiped at her face.

This was proper harassment now. She was determined to report it, as soon as she got… some-fucking-where. And the maddening road continued on and on: snow burdened evergreens looming, sometimes so low, the sides of her car sent snow flying with audible thuds; more curves, the ravine gaping into the darkness between ghostly tree trunks to the right; snow continuing to accumulate over all but the center of her windshield; wipers slowing down to a tired wheeze, unable to cope with the sheer amount of powder coming out of the sky; the fuel gauge needle on E; tires slipping her control more frequently now that her nerves were on edge…

The passenger seat airbag randomly deployed, scaring the bejesus out of her. A particularly low hanging pine branch scraped against her window like nails on a chalkboard. The road widened without warning. A red neon sign appeared, intermittently flashing its silent beckoning: _Vacancies_. She sharply pulled into the gas station, surprised to see there was even room for anything like that on the left side of the road.

She jumped out and immediately started pumping gas, her eyes out for the cop car. It was stalling just outside of her line of vision, engine purring quietly over the gusts of wind. She took a step behind when the tank filled and still managed to spill gas on her boots. With a muffled "shit!", she did a silly little dance, trying to shake the liquid off, managing to get snow all over them instead. As she twisted the cap back on, she noticed off the side of her eye that the cop car was slowly rolling down into the pump area. Crying in earnest now, she turned around and marched right into the lodge lobby.

* * *

**PS:** second chapter is already written but it should extend to three or four. I don't really know, I'm not used to sustaining a story over 6000 words and I've already felt a bit like I was rambling as opposed to my usual super concentrated writing - but I do want to break out of my normal routines and I hope I don't literally lose the plot along the way ;-)


	2. Chapter 2

"Hello?" Piper asked with urgency, slamming the door shut behind her. She leaned against it for a moment and took in a deep breath. Determined, she pushed away her tears and looked around.

"Hey. What can I get you?" a relaxed, husky feminine voice called from the soft shadows surrounding the fireplace.

Piper had expected whoever was in charge to be sitting behind the front desk rather than relax at the back. Her tall host unfolded herself from the tangle of cushions where she had apparently been reading and walked casually to the reception area. It was surely a trick of the eye, but the fire appeared to dim as she walked away from it.

The cop car slowly pulled into the gas station. Piper's pulse quickened.

"Well, uh… can I… can I get a margarita?" she wanted alcohol NOW. Her perhaps – _hopefully_ – irrationally shot nerves were in dire need of calming.

"In this weather?" the host asked with a lopsided grin.

Piper had to admit the woman's calm manner reassured her, as much as that was possible given everything. She was alone at night in a foreign country middle of nowhere (always worse than a native country middle of nowhere), tailgated by some creepy middle aged man who folded his ball squeezers and thought government approved weed could kill.

Piper shrugged, turning half her attention back to the very patient woman. Outside, the cop car moved at a snail's pace. A shiver went through her when the vehicle momentarily stopped in front of the lodge.

"Perfect weather to dream of sitting on a hot beach somewhere," she said, distracted. She heard the brunette chuckle. Piper had managed to perch on a stool, trying to compose herself and calm her fidgeting hands.

The cop car picked up speed and finally rolled back out on the road. When she turned her head she saw the brunette watch her speculatively as she sprinkled salt on the rim of the glass.

"Here's your beach drink," she smirked, pushing the glass towards Piper.

"Thanks," Piper replied, smiling back. She finished half the cocktail in one long, thirsty swig.

"Old man Healy giving you trouble?" the woman asked, motioning with her head towards the coffee table by the fire. Piper picked her drink and followed.

"What? No. Not really. It's just…" she trailed off as she took her seat opposite the host, preferring to look around.

The place was cozy, she thought now that she felt a bit more relaxed: unpretentious log cabin, with a small bar that doubled as reception. A log fire crackled at the other end of the room and the scents emanating from a fresh pot of coffee (in a black rooster tea cozy) on the square table rather pleasantly tickled Piper's nostrils. The wall giving onto the road had two windows, edged by black curtains – that gave Piper pause – not yet pulled. The opposite wall was covered in books. There were only four (black) booths by the windows and two comfy looking (black) leather couches between the fire and the wall of books. She sat back against the surprisingly comfy couch and took a smaller sip of her cocktail, allowing the relaxing fire to warm up her cheeks and thaw her recent anxiety somewhat. Maybe after enough alcohol she could start to imagine this was a trendy wine bar in a medium-sized prairie town.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, Healy's not gonna come in here," the brunette continued with quiet confidence.

"Oh?" Piper gauged the other woman's face but couldn't glean anything. Pale cheeks remained calm as the brunette pushed her (black) glasses to the top of her head (to give Piper a better view of her not unpleasant face? Piper dismissed the thought. Clearly she was just trying to be reassuring). "Well, he was being a bit…"

"Creepy," the brunette chuckled.

"Well, yea. I mean, he was initially friendly… sort of… Is he really a cop?"

"Yea. He's the local chief." The woman used both her hands to cradle her coffee mug. Piper found it kinda cute.

She smiled, looking into her drink. There was just a bit left at the bottom so she drank it up.

"Want another one?"

"No. I think… I think I'm gonna go," Piper said quietly, flicking her eyes at the road. The snow was falling so heavily now that it was hard to see past the gas pumps. But she was pretty sure Healy's cop car wasn't around any longer. Unless he was driving without his lights on… _Fucking hell, Piper, stop!_

"Not to add to your creeps for the day but I wouldn't suggest getting back on the road tonight."

Piper narrowed her eyes. The brunette had been speaking with nonchalance even if she was evidently aware of Healy's odd behavior. Piper wasn't sure how to feel about this.

"Why's that?"

"Big storm out there. It's supposed to continue snowing like that for at least 12 more hours."

"What _do_ you suggest?"

"Getting a room," the brunette playfully winked towards the reception area.

"You would, wouldn't you?" Piper chuckled, holding her host's eyes for a rather fun moment. She hadn't quite expected this incipient banter. Maybe she could stay a little longer here, pretend she was in that trendy (women only perhaps?) wine bar. It was pleasant. And quiet. And… really fucking secluded. "I don't see any other customers."

"Look, I'm not gonna stop you from leaving if you really must get back out there," the brunette said casually, turning in her seat and picking two mugs from a shelf behind her. She proceeded to fill them with coffee, "but that toy car you're driving is not gonna get you anywhere fast in this weather. And you might panic trying to find your way back once you get stuck."

Piper bristled but accepted the coffee pushed her way without a second thought. She sat back, giving her host a look infused with all the confidence she had at the moment.

"Do you think I'm some damsel in distress?"

She sipped her coffee casually, enjoying the warmth that spread through her tense body. The brunette laughed. It was low and soft and maybe even a bit worried. Maybe. Piper found her confusing.

"Out there, dressed like this and driving that car – yea, you are."

"Listen," Piper frowned, placing the mug on the coffee table with a thud, secretly enjoying the woman's wince, "I've been on this sorry ass road for like 3 hours now. How much farther can the interstate be?" She didn't like it when the brunette frowned. "What?"

"The interstate? Kootenay Highway, you mean."

"Whatever. You know what I mean. I want back on it. Obviously. Why else would I be here in the first place?!"

"Well, you're gonna have to turn back. This is a private road. It ends on someone's property."

"That's not what the highway patrol told me," Piper replied with irritation. "He said the road loops right back onto the interstate," she enunciated slowly, underlining each of her words with a punch of her index against the rough wood of the coffee table.

"Highway," the brunette smirked, calmly taking a sip of her coffee and snaking an arm around the knees she had pulled onto the couch.

"Whatever. That's what he told me. And now you're saying he lied to me?"

The brunette shrugged, watching Piper get infuriated. The blonde wouldn't swear by it, but she had a feeling her host was enjoying herself.

"What? God, you're so frustrating!"

"I'm not saying he lied. All I'm saying is you're on a private road that does not meet with the highway if you keep going in the direction you're currently headed."

"But…" Piper waved her hand dismissively. The people here were clearly pigheaded. _Fucking backroad hillbillies_. "Ok, thanks for the cocktail and the coffee. I'm going to take my chances on the road."

The brunette shrugged again. She returned her attention to the novel she had left facing down on the arm of the couch. Piper watched her in dismay.

"How much for the drinks and the gas?"

"On the house," the other woman lifted her eyes at her. There was no mischief or amusement in them now, just a sort of cool… Piper wouldn't go as far as to call it "affection", but something akin to it that a stranger may feel for you. "You're really not having the time of your life today, so…"

Piper was really exhausted by everything that had happened so far. She was in no mood to be pitied.

"I mean it."

"Leave whatever you're comfortable with."

Piper gave her a look. Was the damn woman trying to make her life easier or harder? Piper couldn't quite tell. She pulled out her wallet.

"Shit!"

The expletive caused her host to lift her eyes from the book again, one questioning eyebrow up.

"I only have US currency on me…"

"So leave USD, then," the woman laughed, unperturbed.

Piper threw a $20 on the coffee table and made her way out of the lodge, slamming the door in her wake. She was immediately assaulted by howling winds creeping inside her unzipped jacket. Sharp pins of icy snow pricked at her face and neck.

She ran to her car, yanked the door open and took refuge inside. Her lips expelled a long, hissing sigh. For a moment there she wanted to turn back and bid goodbye to the woman. Instead, she decided the brunette had been a cunt and her coffee mediocre, so she could stick that $20 in her charity jar of an ass. A rather sexy ass but that was beside the fucking point. The margarita had been acceptable, at least.

"Motherfuck," she mumbled under her breath, noticing all the car windows had been obscured by the accumulated snow. She stuck the key in the ignition and turned. Nothing. She turned it again. Nothing. "MOTHERFUCKER!" She shouted, beating the driving wheel with her hands. "Stupid motherfucking spillage and fucking backwards hillbillies piece of shit Canadian blizzard rental!" she added for good measure, still beating the driving wheel, until her hands started to hurt. She stopped for a moment to gather her breath and noticed a small laceration on her left hand. "Great, now I'm fucking bleeding."

She opened her door and used her sleeve to push the snow off the windscreen. The lodge's black curtains had been pulled now but there was still a trickle of light spilling out. She noticed with a scoff that the "Vacancies" sign had been turned off.

"Did she get a visit from like the Holy fucking Spirit while my back was turned?"

She waited a few long moments in the car, trying to recompose herself. She didn't want to go back in and give that stupid, exasperating woman the satisfaction she just knew the smirking brunette would flaunt at her. But what was she gonna do? Sleep in her car? The fucking engine wasn't turning on, so the temperature was bound to drop. And she really didn't have anything warm, since Cal had taken all her luggage. She was supposed to see Polly and Pete and Larry right about now. Which reminded her, she should be calling Polly to give her the wonderful update. On cue, her phone came to life.

"Hey, Pol," she answered with more enthusiasm than she really felt.

"Hey, loser, where the hell are you? When I got nothing from you we decided to go on out for dinner. Gimme a shout when you get here so I can come grab you. I got you steak. I figured after all that dri –"

"Pol."

"What? You love steak."

"It's not about the steak. My car broke down."

"Piper! Stop shitting me. Where are you? Tell me you're around the corner."

"No, I'm not fucking with you. My car broke down somewhere called Black Lake."

"Black Lake? Never heard of it."

"Well, I'm not surprised. It's as Podunk as it gets. Apparently I'm on a private road."

"Well, go knock on the door or something. Or maybe don't. You never know. Oh, Piper…!"

She knew this would happen if she told the truth. Polly would start worrying. She took a deep breath and put on her consoling tone.

"Hey, hey, Pol, it's ok. I'm actually at a lodge."

"OK? Just stay the night and we'll talk in the morning. See if you can get someone to look at your car. Or should we come pick you? I know, we'll look up Black Lake online and come pick you up in the morning. Make an adventure out of it," Polly sounded a lot better now.

"We could do that, if the guys are up for it."

"Of course they're up for it. We want you here, Pipe. You're half the fun!"

"All right, Polly."

Piper's reply was cut short as the lights of a vehicle appeared from the thick blanket of stormy darkness. She was ecstatic for a moment, hoping her nightmare was over. She had opened her mouth to tell Polly the good news when she recognized the car slowly edging off the road: Healy's fucking cop car. "Shit," Piper mumbled under her breath, an icy shiver shaking her body.

"What was that, Piper?"

"Nothing, nothing," Piper whispered. "I gotta go. Love you. Call you in the morning, all right?"

She ended the call, laying low in her seat, hoping Healy had not seen her. A few moments later she overheard the engine purring closer and closer. Without further ado, she edged the door open and broke into a mad dash. It took her two long strides to reach the – now locked! – lodge entrance. _Fuck! Shit!_ She groaned inwardly. She threw away any decorum and started frantically banging.

"Open the fucking door!" she shouted. A gust of wind slapped her face with icy snow.

Heartbeat on overdrive, she stole a glance behind her. Healy had stopped his car right next to hers and was now slowly walking towards her, casting frowning glances at the lodge's windows. It was most likely her feverish imagination but she thought his eyes like… glowed. And not from any source of light, either.

The door sprung open. Piper unceremoniously pushed the smirking brunette aside and ran all the way to the furthest corner of the room. She buried herself in a pile of cushions, still warm and exotically fragrant from their lengthy contact with her host's body. Piper breathed heavily, clutching the cushions. Her eyes were glued to the door as if demons from hell were going to burst through any moment now.

"Hello again," the woman grinned in amusement, slowly closing the door. "So I guess you changed your mind in the end?"

"Not willingly," Piper mumbled, the beating of her heart slowing a little as she overheard a car engine disappear in the distance. She straightened her legs, changing her position on the couch to something less frightened looking. There was no need to appear any more pathetic to her host than she had so far. The woman sat down by the fire and poured more coffee for the both of them. "Thanks," Piper nodded, grabbing onto her mug across the cushions she was still cradling. Maybe the coffee wasn't quite as mediocre as she'd initially thought.

"Costa Rican. The coffee, I mean," the woman smiled.

Piper shook her head.

"How did you know I was thinking about the coffee?"

"What else were you going to think about as you drank it?"

"That fucking creep outside, for instance," Piper blurted. She blushed and took another sip to cover it. "I mean…"

"Well, don't feel bad about it. Healy is a creep."

"Why does he keep circling?"

"He's also a cop," the woman scoffed. "That's what they do, especially in bad weather."

"Doesn't he have like a family to go home to? Especially in bad weather?"

"Nope. Who the fuck would want him?" the woman grinned, flashing a nice set of teeth.

Piper nodded.

"Why did you turn off the "Vacancies" sign?"

"That's out of the left field," the brunette crossed her arms over her chest, watching Piper with sparkling eyes.

Piper shrugged, idly noticing just how green her host's eyes were. She ignored it, annoyance spilling to the surface.

"It felt like you were trying to get rid of me."

"Did it? I'm sorry. It was basically my way of announcing to the world that I was turning in for the night. It's not like I was expecting any more customers."

"Do you live on your own?"

The woman nodded briskly. Piper took it to mean she didn't care to expand on the subject. They were quiet for a few moments, each drinking their coffee. The brunette had returned to her book. Piper stretched her legs in front of the fire, enjoying the scent of evergreen strangely mixing with Costa Rican coffee and the exotic scent of her hosts' cushions. The country quiet, only broken by the satisfying pops of burning wood and the occasional howl of wind outside, slowly eased her inner tension. She closed her eyes and dozed for a while.

A very loud growl from her stomach snapped her back to reality. The woman – Piper had forgotten about her – lifted her eyes and grinned.

"I'm sorry," Piper said, looking mortified. She placed a hand over her noisy stomach. "Is it too late to ask for food? I mean… maybe you don't even serve food to customers…"

"No, it's definitely not too late," the woman replied, glancing at Piper's phone on the table. It flashed 20:45. She got up and Piper followed her, a bit too quick. She saw stars and almost bumped into the brunette. "What would you like?"

"Uh, I'm assuming Chinese or pizza is out of question…"

"Chinese, yea, but I got frozen pizza if you're not too pretentious?"

Piper sighed. If her host shopped at the small convenience store she'd stopped at earlier, she probably had some nasty ass preservative laden concoction in the fridge that regular Piper wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole…

"I don't think I'm in a position to be pretentious," Piper's lips curled with a tired smile.

"All right, go sit back down and I'll stick a pizza in the oven."

Piper had curled up among the cushions and tugged a green blanket over her body. By the time her host returned she was on the brink of dozing off again. Through sleepy eyes she watched the fire do that thing again: puff up as if in greeting when the brunette came closer. People here were a bit funny, that was certain, so it was prudent to keep the good will alive, Piper thought as she sat up, enhancing the smile on her lip a bit.

"You know, I want to apologize for earlier. I think I was a bit short with you where you've been really kind to me. So let's start over. I'm Piper." She held out her hand over the coffee table. The other woman smiled and closed her fingers around Piper's.

"Alex."

Piper was startled by the coldness of Alex's hand but its softness eased her mind. The brunette wasn't so bad, after all. She'd sheltered her, gave her coffee and even made her a cocktail. To top it all, she was somehow able to keep Creepy Healy at arm's length. Pretty much all Piper could hope for, considering the circumstances.

Alex let out a soft chuckle, her eyes flickering with an intense light Piper hadn't seen before but was quite taken by.

"What?" she sleepily asked. There was a story behind those green eyes and she was this close to learning it.

"You've bled all over my hand."

The remark broke Piper out of the reverie in which she was slowly losing herself.

"Oh… god, sorry. I hurt my hand in the car…" Piper retracted her hand and wrapped it in her sleeve, trying to wipe the excess blood. It was just a trickle but a steady one. "I sort of got mad."

"You did? Why?"

"It fucking broke down on me. Stupid rental. And then Healy returned so I ran back here."

"Give it to me," Alex cupped her hands as if she was trying to catch water.

"Why?"

"I wanna show you a fun trick." Piper frowned, unsure if she should smile of refuse. "Come on, it won't hurt."

"Okay."

A bit self-consciously, Piper lowered her still bleeding hand in Alex's. The brunette closed her cool ones over it and held Piper's eyes with one of her little smirks.

"Keep looking at me."

"Why?"

"Because otherwise the trick won't work."

Piper complied, aware of a kind of superficial sizzle going on between Alex's palms. Her cheeks colored a bit as green eyes restarted spinning their incomprehensible tale. The room around her seemed to disappear in a soft, fragrant cloud of light green cotton candy while her body lost all its material consistency. Piper urgently needed to re-establish her connection to some sort of meaning.

"Are you secretly cooking my hand?" she joked nervously as she shifted her eyes to Alex's long and nimble fingers.

"Yes. I'm going to turn it into a perfectly grilled pork chop."

On cue, the fire crackled and puffed up behind them.

* * *

Piper was still ensconced among the exotic scented cushions. The fragrance seemed stronger now that Alex had held her injured hand for hours (ok, it was only about 5 minutes but it felt like a – rather pleasant – eternity). She was in a state she recognized well: the drowsiness that came after a heavier bottle of wine, the kind where you're at peace with the universe and even feel acquainted with its more mysterious workings. The thought of Creepy Healy was present, but only as a persistent but muffled buzzing at the periphery of her unhindered state. There were also misty thoughts about her trio of friends finishing a meal in Lake Louise. Though seen as from the wrong end of binoculars, they appeared so clear in Piper's mind that she was confident their night was going on just fine without her. She frowned for a moment as the thought registered but let go of it just as easily.

"Hey, Nick? Where are you?"

Piper remembered that right after fixing her pork chop hand, Alex promised her she would try to get a mechanic friend to check up on her stupid rental. And that's what she was doing now, having a speakerphone conversation with said friend. Piper amused herself trying to imagine "Nick" from the loud and brash disembodied voice that was slowly dissipating whatever spell in which Alex had had the room wrapped up.

"Have you tried looking out the window for a change? I know you're a bookworm hermit who could live for months on canned beans and coffee but even you might've noticed there's a fucking blizzard raging outside."

"I may have noticed something, yes," Alex chuckled from her comfortable spot by the puffed up fire. "Too much white; I thought I needed new glasses."

"You probably do. You barely ever notice my handsome presence anymore," Nick let out a ribald laugh on the other end of the line. Piper was surprised at Alex's affectionate smile.

"You're out plowing, then?"

"Yep. Got a big gig from the city. I'll be at it for the foreseeable future."

Piper watched the brunette frown slightly. Right now, she saw Nicky as a tall, muscular woman with large, square hands smeared with grease. An unfiltered cigarette hung loosely from the corner of her mouth and she had a bottle of the modern equivalent of moonshine inside her back pocket. The image made her giggle softly.

"Are you...?"

"Relax," Nicky drawled, "I've got everything under control. You know how being extra busy works all my excess energy out."

"Lucky you. So that means you won't be able to drop by and look at a car?"

"Heeeey! You actually bought a car, Vause?"

"I have a guest."

"Well, I'll be! Male? Female? No, let me guess: female. Otherwise you wouldn't give a fuck about their well-being."

Piper lifted her eyebrows at this. Alex waved a placating hand, which she promptly stuck in her hair.

"How about you answer my question for once?"

Nick laughed on the other end.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, Vause, but the answer is no tonight. I could, though, send in Tricia." Piper perked up at the name but was confused by Alex's frown. She'd taken her glasses off and rubbed the bridge of her nose. Then she put her glasses back on.

"Uh…"

"I know, I know, you two don't see eye to eye but I'll explain the situation to her. You know she's actually got a big heart."

"And she'd do anything for you."

"That's what I'm banking on. So I'll send her in the morning. Tell your guest there won't be any plows coming your way until then, anyway. Good night and don't do anything I wouldn't do to that nice guest of yours, all right?"

Alex chuckled and ended the call. She placed the phone on the coffee table and turned to Piper, still grinning with the mischievous light in her eye. The blonde felt a giddy stir in her chest.

"What?"

"There is very little Nicky wouldn't do to a beautiful woman."

Piper squirmed but not because she was uncomfortable with the turn their conversation had taken. No. Rather because… the implication echoed something inside her. Something she hadn't felt in ages. She took in a deep breath.

Alex lifted a long, thin index. Her smile was amiable, eyes perfectly calm.

"But you heard her, I'm a hermit bookworm so I'm just gonna go back to my book."

The blonde scoffed.

"Can I trust you?"

"You have no choice."

* * *

Oops, there was a bit more delay than I wanted in posting this. I was stricken with a bad case of "should this be chapter 2 or should I insert more stuff about the investigation before I relax things?" Eventually I figured we all want Vauseman to meet already and the rest can wait a bit longer.


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